The American Colonies Flashcards
1
Q
What happened in America in 1763
A
End of the Seven Years War / Proclamation Line
2
Q
What happened in America in 1764
A
Sugar Act / Currency Act
3
Q
What happened in America in 1765
A
Stamp Act / Quartering Act / Formation of the Sons of Liberty
4
Q
What happened in America in 1766
A
Repeal of the Stamp Act / Declatory Act
5
Q
What happened in America in 1767
A
Townshend Duties
6
Q
What happened in America in 1770
A
Boston Massacre / Repeal of Townshend Duties
7
Q
What happened in America in 1771
A
Committees of Correspondance
8
Q
What happened in America in 1773
A
Tea Act / Boston Tea Party
9
Q
What happened in America in 1774
A
Coercive or Intolerable Acts / Quebec Act / First Continental Congress
10
Q
What happened in America in 1775
A
Battles of Lexington & Concord / Second Continental Congress / Declaration of Causes & Necessities of Taking Up Arms (6th July) / Olive Branch Petition (8th July)
11
Q
What happened in America in 1776 January
A
Thomas Paine publishes ‘ Common Sense’
12
Q
What happened in America in 1776 July
A
Declaration of Independence (4th July 1776)
13
Q
What happened in America in 1776-1777
A
Articles of Confederation
14
Q
What Key Battle took place in 1776 and who won
A
Long Island (America) / Trenton & Princeton (America)
15
Q
What Key Battle took place in 1777 and who won
A
Saratoga (America)
16
Q
What Key Battle took place in 1780 and who won
A
Charleston (Britain)
17
Q
What Key Battle took place in 1781 and who won
A
Cow pens (America) / Yorktown (America)
18
Q
What Key Battle took place in 1782
A
Battle of the Saintes
19
Q
What happened in the Treaty of Paris and when was it
A
1783
20
Q
Lord North
A
British Prime Minister 1770-1782
21
Q
Charles Townshend
A
Chancellor of Exchequer
22
Q
Thomas Paine
A
Enlightenment writer who published ‘Common Sense’
23
Q
William Howe
A
British Military General
24
Q
John Burgoyne
A
British military General
25
Charles Cornwallis
British military General
26
William Pitt the Younger
British Prime Minister
27
Sam Adams
Founding Father. Organised Boston Massacre & Boston Tea Party & Committees of Correspondence. Delegate at 1st Continental Congress. Signed Declaration of Independance
28
John Adams
Founding Father. Lawyer for British after Boston Massacre. Delegate at 1st Continental Congress. Signed Declaration of Independence
29
John Dickinson
Founding Father. Wrote Olive Branch Petition & Declaration of Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms
30
Benjamin Franklin
Founding Father. American Ambassador in London. Signed Declaration of Independence
31
George Washington
Founding Father. Delegate at 1st Continental Congress. Commander of Continental Army. Later 1st President.
32
Thomas Jefferson
Founding Father. Author of Declaration of Independence (and signed it) & Declaration of Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms
33
What was the Proclamation Line 1763
Boundary line to the west of the 13 colonies. In part to minimise conflict over land with Native Americans and to stop uncontrolled westward expansion into new lands acquired from the French
34
What was The Sugar Act 1764
Designed to increase the amount of tax paid by colonists for sugar so the British could pay off their war debt
There was already tax on imported sugar of 6d but was not properly enforced.
PM Grenville lowered it to 3d but enforced it
The colonists complained that the British had the right to regulate trade but not tax them.
35
What was the Quartering Act 1765
Each colony had to provide barracks for British troops stationed there and pay for their supplies.
Troops could be housed in inns and empty buildings without the owner’s consent
36
What was the Stamp Act 1765
50 formal documents now held an additional tax. The Act required a stamp on these formal documents to show it had been paid.
Stamp-tax officers were based in each colony. It was estimated it would raise £60k in its first year
37
What were The Virginia Resolves 1765
Patrick Henry introduced a resolution attacking the Stamp Act when speaking in the Virginia Assembly
- Colonists possessed the rights of Englishmen
- They could only be taxed if they had proper representation
- Colonists had to give their right to be taxed
- Only the Assembly has the right to tax Virginian residents
By the end of 1765, 8 other colonial assemblies had passed their own regulations condemning the Stamp Act
38
What was the Stamp Act Congress “Declaration of Rights and Grievances”
The Massachusetts Assembly suggested an inter colonial meeting to draft a set of common resolutions
- 9 colonies met in New Your and drafted a ‘Declaration of Rights and Grievances’
39
What were the Sons of Liberty 1765
- A group of men directing protests
- Called for a boycott of British goods on 31/10
-200 leading merchants in New York signed an agreement to not import British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed
- Street protests began in Boston
- Life size models of the Prime Minister, Lord North, and Andrew Oliver (in charge of implementing the Stamp Act) were hung from a tree and a bonfire set outside Oliver’s house and it was ransacked.
- Oliver resigned
- By October stamp distributors in 6 colonies had resigned
40
What was the Repeal of The Stamp Act 1766
New PM Rockingham removed the Stamp Act
41
What was the Declaratory Act 1766
- Government were fearful of the colonist’s ability to inflict economic damage
- Therefore they passed the Declaratory Act at the same time as the repeal of the Stamp Act
- This asserted the colonies were subordinate to the British Parliament
- In essence this meant they could pass any laws
42
What were the Townshend Duties 1767
- Rockingham was replaced by William Pitt as PM
- Charles Townshend imposed duties on glass, wine, china, lead, paints, paper and tea imported to American colonies to raise money
43
What was the Circular Letter 1768
Sam Adams put together a letter to be sent to the colonies denouncing the Townshend Acts as they violated the principle of ‘no taxation without representation’
- 7 assemblies approved the letter
- The Sons of Liberty called for another boycott in 1768
44
What did the Coercive Acts become known as in the colonies
The Intolerable Acts
45
What were the 4 Coercive Acts (+1 considered to be)
Introduced by Lord North
- Administration of Justice Act: 20th May 1774
- Massachusetts Government: Act 20th May 1774
- Boston Port Act: 1st June 1774
- Quartering Act: 2nd June 1774
- Quebec Act 1774
46
What was the Administration of Justice Act 1774
Offensive against Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party
- The Act meant British officials accused of capital crimes whilst suppressing riots or collecting lawful taxes in Massachusetts could avoid hostile local juries by having their case heard in England.
- Angry colonists labelled this the ‘Murder Act’ as it potentially allowed murderers to escape colonial justice
47
What was the Massachusetts Government Act 1774
- British officials realised that part of their inability to control the colony was rooted in the highly independent nature of local government there.
- This Act effectively suspended the colony’s charter and provided for an unprecedented amount of royal control.
- Severe limits were placed on the powers of town meetings and most elective offices in the colony were to be filled with royal appointees, not popularly elected officials
48
What was the Boston Port Act 1774
The measure closed the port facilities in Boston until they reimbursed the EIC for the cost of the teas destroyed in the Boston Tea Party and paid for the damage caused to the customs officials during the unrest.
- Furthermore, the Crown insisted on recognition from Massachusetts that duties such as the tea tax were properly within control of Parliment
49
What was the revised Quartering Act 1774
- The revised law authorised soldiers to be accommodated in occupied facilities, including private homes and applied to all colonies not just Massachusetts
50
What was the Quebec Act 1774
- French civil law was reinstated and authority was placed in the hands of a governor rather than a colonial assembly
- Quebec was doubled in size. This was seen as a deliberate attempt to block the western expansion of the 13 colonies
- But most tellingly, it became legal for the Canadians to practise Roman Catholicism. Catholics were free to establish churches and worship freely.
51
What was the colonists reaction to the Quebec Act 1774
- Saw the act as a penalty imposed on them for their resistance to British taxes
- Believed that a Catholic stronghold had been created to threaten them
- The act also overruled claims to western lands contained in the original charters of Pennsylvania and Virginia
- Another concern was the military threat of British troops based at the rear of the Thirteen Colonies
52
When was the Olive Branch Petition
5th July 1775
53
What were the 3 key arguements in Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’
- Challenegd the idea of monarchy which limited the freedom of the British parliment
- Thought independance would bring greater freedom in American trade and politics
- For a republic: He wanted people to have a say in their government and an elected president rather than a monarch
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